Whale Sharks and Days

What can I say, we have done so much in the past two days it is unbelievable.
Thursday was a slow and relaxing day that was filled with sun and water. Sadly the ocean infont of our condo is full of seaweed; however, if you walk about ten minutes down the beach the water is crystal clear. We walked down a street called Fifth Avenue, which had shops and vendors everywhere. For lunch we had tacos at a colorful restaurant called La Vagabunde. The day was stretched out to the fullest in preparation for the longest day to come.

On Friday I was awaken at 5:30 AM to get dressed in my bathing suit and be picked up by our friend. She arrived in a large white van that carried one other guy named Roberto from Spain. We drove and picked up two other families, one from Ireland and the other American. When we got to the docks there was breakfast and bathrooms. Then we waited about twenty minutes until all of the other vans arrived. Once they had our friend (Jessica), the Irish family, and us all loded onto a boat and we were off to find the biggest fish in the world.
The boat ride was long and most of it for me was focused on looking at the horizon. Everyone was quiet for the most part, there were a few side comments but you couldn't really hear them over the lapping and splashing of the waves against the boat. We were tosted up and down and up and down.
I was stuffed into a wet suit on the way there and you might think it was a piece of cake but these were not normal wetsuits. The wetsuits we brought were for racing triathlon so it was basically like putting on a second skin (that was NOT the highlight of my day by a long shot). I look forward to the day where I get to wear a normal wetsuit because it will nothing compared to getting that monstrosity on.
Once we arrived at the whale shark site other boats had already arrived and lifejackets bobbed in the water. Apparently I somehow volunteered myself and my family to go first. We geared up and prepared to jump. The captain started yelling in spanish and Jessica told us to go. With in a matter of seconds I plumeted from the side of the boat to the water. As soon as I came up everyone was frantic. My snorkel come off so it was all I could do to hold my breath and hope for the best.
Waves slapped my face every time I came up to breath and when I looked down there he was, a beautiful creature. He was long and spotted (to be honest I really wanted to give him a hug because of how adorable he looked). It was a surreal experience like diving into a painting. Then I remembered I had no snorkel and needed to breath. I plunged up out of the water to be greeted by the other instructor, Alex. He grabbed my arm and pulled me through the water.
"Look down," he said and I followed his instructions.
The whale shark was swimming beside me thinking "yep I'm still a whale shark," but I had to come up for air. When I did Alex shouted at me to look down again.
I couldn't though because I needed air and Alex didn't speak english well so all he said was look down and come.

After the first jump the first were easy and calm. We swam along side them until they dove down so deep that we could no longer see them.

We then drove to a beach with crystal clear water and ate lunch. The food was called Ceviche and I went back for seconds (recipe soon).

It was a long windy ride back but I am pretty sure I fell asleep. However, by the time we got back to the condo I was ready to be and I think we all were. That was an experience I would encourage everyone to have. Jessica was amazing, the day was spectacular, and the creatures were unreal.